Road Trip! Destination: Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
When satirist and social commentator Washington Irving compiled his stories and essays into “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon Gent” in 1819, he almost certainly had no hint of what it might lead to. Among his 30-some pieces were two short stories — “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
The village of Sleepy Hollow is an actual place on the eastern shore of the Hudson River, 25 miles north of Manhattan — just a bit more than six hours from Pittsburgh.
Each October, Sleepy Hollow and the neighboring villages that make up the town of Mt. Pleasant in Westchester County turn into Halloween Central as the towns and their historic houses, open-air museums and church yards celebrate Irving's tale of local schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and his haunted encounter with the Headless Horseman.
The actual wooden bridge where Crane met — or didn't meet — the Horseman is long gone. But contemporary artists have created an imaginative variety of themed events that echo Crane's experience and are calculated to put a shiver down your spine.
Sunnyside
Introduce yourself to the author Irving with a visit to Sunnyside in Tarrytown, N.Y. There, a guide, dressed in period garb leads guests through a tiny 19th-century cottage, overlooking the Hudson River. The guide explains how Irving designed Sunnyside and its grounds to suit his sentimental interests in the architecture of colonial New York and buildings he knew in Scotland and Spain.
Open through Nov. 8, there are several tours throughout the day.
The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze
During daylight hours, the buildings and grounds of Van Cortland Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., are a living museum, which immerses visitors in the domestic life of a patriot family in the years just after the American Revolution.
But for 30 nights through Nov. 15, its grounds flare up with more than 7,000 hand-carved and illuminated pumpkins creating an elaborate, outdoor, walk-through sound and light display.
Backed by sound effects and synchronized lighting, glowing pumpkins become a giant sea-serpent in the Undersea Aquarium and dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, as well as slithering snakes, web-spinning spiders and soaring ghosts. Visitors can pick out constellations that shine overhead in the Pumpkin Planetarium or gaze at a moving circus train with clowns and animals.
Lyndhurst
Railroad baron Jay Gould's 19th-century Gothic-revival mansion overlooking the Hudson River and its 67-acre estate in Tarrytown, N.Y., gives visitors a glimpse into the elaborately elegant lives of the rich, famous and powerful of an earlier era.
Now a National Trust historic site, it's worth a visit any time of year.
From Oct. 16 through 31, it deserves a second, post-sunset look when it transforms into “Jay Ghoul's House of Curiosities.” Long-dead family members lead guests through the mansion on a frightfully entertaining tour designed to appeal to adults, teens and younger children.
‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'
Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk brings Irving's tale to life in a 45-minute performance accompanied by organ music. Recommended for those age 10 and older, this tale of Ichabod Crane and his encounter with the Headless Horseman has multiple performances on weekend evenings through Nov. 1 at the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow.
The church and its adjacent three-acre Old Dutch burying ground are worth a daytime look. The church dates back to the late 1600s. The cemetery is often cited as the Headless Horseman's haunt and the likely resting place of the people who inspired Irving's characters.
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
Not to be confused with the nearby Old Dutch burying ground, the 90-acre Sleepy Hollow Cemetery holds the gravesite of Washington Irving and other celebrities, which include hoteliers Leona and Harry Helmsley, labor leader Samuel Gompers and Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Carnegie. Do-it-yourself and guided walking tours are available year-round.
Around Halloween, the cemetery increases its activity with additional night tours such as “The Classic Lantern Tour,” “Murder & Mayhem” and “The Good, the Bad and the Unusual.”
Horseman's Hollow
The shivery thrills of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” become a 3-D horror story when Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow transforms into a town driven mad by the Headless Horseman on weekends through Nov. 1.
Visitors begin walking a haunted trail, stumbling upon scary scenes of the Hollow's unfortunate inhabitants who are bent on keeping visitors from leaving.
Creatures — human and otherwise — lurk in the shadows, ready to terrify. Special effects disorient and unsettle. Elaborate costumes and makeup make it seem all too real. The trail ends at the ruins of Ichabod's schoolhouse, where a twisted maze of horrors leads visitors to the lair of the Horseman.
Recommended for age 10 and older.
Alice T. Carter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-320-7808, acarter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @ATCarter_Trib.
